Salima Belhaj

Salima Belhaj (born 18 October 1978) is a Dutch-Moroccan politician. She has been a member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for the Democrats 66 (D66) since 26 January 2016. She previously served as a municipal councillor and group president in Rotterdam between 2008 and 2016.

Salima Belhaj
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
26 January 2016
Personal details
Born (1978-10-18) 18 October 1978
Harderwijk, Netherlands
NationalityDutch,
Moroccan
Political partyDemocrats 66
Alma materRotterdam University of Applied Sciences

Career

Belhaj was born on 18 October 1978 in Harderwijk.[1] She is of Moroccan descent, her father was a social worker. Belhaj moved to Rotterdam for her studies of Personnel and Work at the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, which she followed between 1998 and 2002. From 2004 to 2007 she was a personnel coordinator at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. She worked as business leader of the De Appel theatre from 2007 to 2008. From 2008 until January 2016 she was head of personnel of the Scapino Ballet.[1][2]

Belhaj was number 10 on the D66 candidate list for the 2006 general election.[3] She was member of the municipal council of Rotterdam for the Democrats 66 between January 2008 and January 2016. During this period she also was fraction leader.[1] When Belhaj started she was the only council member for Democrats 66. During her later years in the council Democrats 66 became part of the municipal ruling coalition.[4] On 26 January 2016 Belhaj became a member of the House of Representatives, when she replaced Wassila Hachchi.[1] In the House she deals with topics as defence, harbors and infrastructure.[5]

In October 2018, after Alexander Pechtold announced his departure as parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, Belhaj was candidate to succeed him but lost to Rob Jetten.[6] In 2021, she announced she would like to renounce her Moroccan passport, although she cannot do so by Moroccan law.[7]

References
  1. "S. (Salima) Belhaj" (in Dutch). Parlement.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  2. Daniëlle Rijsdijk (11 March 2014). "Salima Belhaj (D66): "Soms word ik 'het wijnmeisje' genoemd"" (in Dutch). Metro. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016.
  3. Margalith Kleijwegt (27 January 2016). "'Mijn vriend leerde me hoe belangrijk het debat is'" (in Dutch). Vrij Nederland. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  4. Mark Hoogstad (20 January 2016). "Salima Belhaj vertrekt uit gemeenteraad Rotterdam" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016.
  5. "D66'er Belhaj: en dan ben je opeens Kamerlid" (in Dutch). RTV Rijnmond. 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016.
  6. Jan Hoedeman (20 July 2019). "D66-Kamerlid Salima Belhaj: 'Ik ken geen rancune'" (in Dutch). Het Parool. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019.
  7. (in Dutch) Coolsingelpraat met Salima Belhaj (D66): ‘Ik wil van mijn Marokkaanse paspoort af’, www.openrotterdam.nl. 4 March 2021.
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